In Our Hearts
by Rairyu
Summary: The events of Kingdom Hearts as seen from the Final Fantasy characters' points of view. Major spoilers for KH1, KH2, FF7, FF8. T for safety. ABANDONED
1. Chapter 1

_Hi there! You can feel free to skip this annoyingly long intro if you please._

_This is my first Kingdom Hearts fic (and it is Kingdom Hearts, 'cause I couldn't categorize this under a triple crossover, so just so you know, there are also a lot of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII elements in the first few chapters), so I hope I did all right._

_It's also my first chapter fic, so I'll try to update…eventually._

_Ok, I've played KH1 so far, and watched Advent Children, and parts of Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus, and that's about it._

_Oh, and read wikipedia and fanfictions (great sources of information, I know)._

_So, needless to say, I know very little about either Final Fantasy game, and I won't be able to update later chapters until I finish KH2 (I'll work on it over the summer when I get the chance)._

_I apologize in advance for sporadic updates (due to busy-ness and clueless-ness) and mistakes in my characterization, situations, concepts, or events. I tried to keep this relatively canon (despite the fact that these characters said Hollow Bastion was their childhood home, but…)_

_And the grammar errors are intentional (I'm a grammar fanatic, ask Kagetora no Tsume)._

_Wow, half a page of author's notes. If you've read this far, congratulations!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII and all related characters and concepts (this would be really long if I did it for the whole story so…I own nothing. __)_

_Enjoy!_

…..….….….….….….…

It took three days for Gaia to fall to the darkness.

Granted, they had been seeing those odd dark monsters for a long time. About a month ago, rumors of strange new creatures began to circulate: black creatures with eyes of fire, which could move like shadows and, when killed, dissolved into a rough heart form before disappearing into the Lifestream. They had never been seen before, and no one knew exactly where they had come from. There were many kinds reported: small or large, flying, swimming, walking, floating; the list was endless, much as the monsters had turned out to be. However, at the start, there were so few of them that no one worried overmuch about their sudden appearance.

What a mistake that had been.

About three days ago, the shadows, which had been getting slightly more numerous as time went on, began to attack towns. At first, the villagers had repelled them relatively easily. Gaia was a world of warriors, and most people knew either how to defend themselves or what to do as an alternative. There were few casualties, but though no one openly communicated their worry, they began to murmur that, maybe, these shadows were more dangerous than they seemed.

Cloud himself had taken part in some of these battles, and was surprised at the overwhelming number of weak shadows; the numbers themselves were not overwhelming, but there were so many more weak shadows than strong ones. It made no sense, as far as he was concerned.

Between the sporadic fights, Nanaki and Aeris spoke of a restlessness in the back of their minds, as thought the Lifestream was uneasy. None of the rest of them paid any heed, though. The Lifestream was often uneasy (as any Power of Life and Death must be), and besides, they had increasingly more pressing concerns.

The second day, they found that the number and strength of the monsters (who came to be known as '_Heartless_' when they realized where they came from: it was not a sight Cloud wished to view again, though he knew he would) had drastically increased. People began to die in greater numbers, and all of them could feel the pain of the Lifestream in the very back of their minds, as though the planet itself was dying. Cid took Shera and Aeris in his airship in an attempt to give aid to those outlying villages besieged by these new enemies. All too often, however, they arrived too late. Barret, in an attempt to save a small group of children, was lost to the monsters.

On the third day, it all ended.

They had all felt the increasing distress of the Lifestream as a constant nagging in their minds, a begging from the planet itself for salvation. Nanaki had been constantly on edge, jumping at shadows and speaking sharply to all. Cid, in one of his reports, said that Aeris was behaving much the same. They all felt a little uneasy, but no one knew what they could do. They had begun keeping shifts in the night, constantly fighting a growing stream of _Heartless_. Then, suddenly, an intense moment of agony, and silence.

Gaia was dead.

All of them knew, though no one said anything, that, from the moment the planet died, no matter what happened, the battle was already lost.

…..….….….….….….…

Cloud held his sword at the ready as he drove the motorcycle he had…'commissioned'…toward yet another group of the shadow monsters. Less than three hours before, he had gotten a call from Shera. A large, flying _Heartless_ had attacked the airship, and though they all escaped relatively unscathed, they were being mobbed by more and more of the creatures as time went on.

So, as Yuffie, Tifa, Nanaki, and Vincent went to fight the monsters out of Midgar, Cloud found the largest, fastest vehicle he could and drove in the general direction the airship had gone. If the sounds in the background of the call were any indication, he needed to get there as soon as he could.

He drove toward yet another seemingly endless swarm of small, weak _Heartless_ that had congregated in his path. He slashed at them left and right, could feel them colliding with the oversized motorcycle, getting caught in its wheels, and dissipating. It took several minutes before he was able to leave the remnants behind, their weird antennae waving in his direction as he sped away.

Cloud could barely see the wreck, a smudge on the horizon surrounded by a sea of black. Flashes of light and a low rumble like thunder told him that he was not too late-yet. Resolutely, he hefted his sword again. It was going to be a long fight.

Several minutes later, he had barely dented the horde of _Heartless_. He had managed to force himself through, however, and was nearing the wreck of Cid's beloved airship, which was lying on its side, a mess of splintered wood, bent metal, shattered glass, and snapped cables. From the midst of the wreckage, he could hear the blasts of some large gun, amidst some rather colorful comments from the pilot and the odd, high-pitched "sound" of magic, almost beyond hearing range. A few moments more, and he could see Cid perched on a bit of rubble, blasting away haphazardly at anything that moved. Come to think of it, that's probably why Aeris and Shera stood behind him, shielded by a bit of rubble. Aeris was casting spell after spell on the dark creatures, but for every one that fell, five took its place.

Cloud swerved violently as Cid turned his way, trying to avoid the bullets that ripped through the _Heartless_ ranks. A moment later, Cid saw him, and redirected his fire.

"About $%&^#* time you got here!" he yelled over the noise of the gun.

The next hour or so passed in a blur of slashing, the roar of the motorcycle, the blasts from the gun, Aeris' shouts and the subsequent sounds of magic, and the discomfort of fitting four people on one, albeit large, motorcycle.

Then they were speeding back to Midgar, praying they would make it there and that there would still be a Midgar to return to.

…..….….….….….….…

Yuffie, Vincent, Nanaki, and Tifa stood in a knot, surrounded by yet another horde of shadow-monsters. Midgar was no more, and, as far as they knew, they were the only survivors.

Tifa delivered yet another roundhouse kick to yet another black critter. They had been fighting for so long, and she could feel the weariness beginning to drag at her, but she resolutely pushed that thought to the back of her mind, to dwell among her other thoughts of desperation, tiredness, futility, and, in general, pessimism. She had no time for that now.

Yuffie threw her shuriken again and again, but the ninja was used to jumping around during battle to avoid attacks. She was not well suited to standing still, surrounded by enemies. Vincent had given her his cloak in an attempt to provide her with added protection, and Tifa did her best to help, but despite their efforts, the younger girl's legs were scratched and bleeding from innumerable claws, and her strength was flagging.

Nanaki was having a worse time of it than even Yuffie; he was closer to the ground and the _Shadows_ than the rest of them were, and his fighting style involved close contact slashing and tearing. He was strong, and determined, but he was hard-pressed to keep from being overwhelmed by the monsters.

Vincent stood on the other side of their little circle. He had adopted his Chaos form in order to fight off a huge, black monster (somehow, she felt it should be called _Darkside_), and though he had succeeded, Tifa could tell he was more tired and injured than he was letting on. He continued to fire round after round with his gun, Death Penalty, devastating the _Heartless_ ranks at point-blank range, but his breathing was becoming more and more labored, and through the _Shadows_, she could see blood dotting the ground beneath him.

Yet they still came. And they kept coming, and coming, never ending, always coming, and they kept fighting on and on, for what she didn't know, because the town was dead, and the people were dead, and the world and the planet itself was dead, and the things kept coming, and though they kept fighting, it was hopeless, because they would _keep_ coming, and coming, and…

A scream broke into her desperate thoughts, and she turned as best she could to see where it had come from.

And watched helplessly as Nanaki was born down by the sheer weight of numbers, and dragged under the horde, and though she fought desperately, she could not reach him in time. She heard him scream again, and then the creatures fell back, and she saw her feline friend with his chest torn open, and a new _Heartless_ struggling out of the place where his heart had been. And she could feel silent tears running down her face, but she fought on, and forced this new thought to the back of her mind with single-minded fierceness.

And then, with a harsh tearing sound, two more of the huge monsters (_Darksides_) rose up at the edge of the horde, and began slowly making their way toward the small group of desperate survivors, wading through the mass of their weaker 'allies'. Tifa's morale hit rock bottom.

If one of the creatures had given them so much trouble, how could they hope to handle two more?

She heard a…noise…and Vincent was streaking past her in some other form of his, opening a path through the throngs of _Shadows_. Tifa grabbed Yuffie by the arm and the two of them ran close behind their friend. Tifa felt hope well up in her. They were going to escape!

And then they were out, and still running for all they were worth, because the horde was still there, and it was coming after them. Vincent turned back and looked at Tifa wordlessly for a moment. She nodded, feeling fresh tears well; she turned to Yuffie, but the younger girl seemed oblivious to anything but their sudden freedom, and her eyes were shining with hope, a hope Tifa was loath to dash. It wasn't until Vincent started to run in the opposite direction, toward the monsters, that reality sunk in, and the ninja froze in shock; but Tifa was already dragging her on, and she had no choice but to follow her friend as they fled from the creatures at a dead run.

Tifa pushed another of her thoughts to the back of her mind, to be dealt with at a more opportune moment.

If such a moment ever came.

…..….….….….….….…

The motorcycle was dying by the time they found Tifa and Yuffie.

The two girls were obviously exhausted, but they were still running, yet another horde of the shadow creatures at their heels. Cloud drove the slowing vehicle toward them; it had been assaulted by one-to-many _Heartless_ claws, and they had taken their toll. There was time for a brief flurry of hugs and exclamations of joy and sorrow before they were once again surrounded.

They formed a defensive circle, and each of them knew this fight would be their last, and even if they came out alive, there was nowhere to go, and nothing to be done, because the planet was dead, and the people were dead, and the creatures kept coming, and coming, and…

Yet none of them said anything, and all thoughts of death and futility and fallen comrades were pushed aside in preparation for the fight for their lives.

Yuffie held a pair of long knives in her hands, her shuriken useless at such close range (besides, the time it would take to return would leave her helpless). She slashed down creature after creature, screaming Wutain war cries over and over again in helpless rage at the creatures that had taken her friends.

Cid stood next to her, spear in hand, turning the air blue in a war cry of his own as he knocked his attackers aside.

Tifa and Cloud stood across from them. Tifa found new strength in her rage, and channeled it into her punches and kicks; the place in her mind where she had forced her pessimistic thoughts insinuated a prayer into her mind that her strength would last. Cloud slashed around him with his sword, determined not to let any more of his friends die.

Shera stood with Aeris inside their circle, blasting away with the gun Cid had salvaged from the wreck of the airship. Aeris tried and failed desperately to keep up with the injuries her friends sustained, tears streaming down her face at each cry of pain she could not silence with her healing.

And so the six of them fought on.

And still the creatures came, and kept coming, joining the horde, stronger ones, until none of the companions remained unscathed, and still the hordes came, carpeting the landscape in black, and all thoughts faded as fire and ice and lightning rained down from the monsters and spears of darkness rose from the ground and claws slashed and teeth tore and still they fought, because what else could they do?

Desperation set in, sparing none of them, as Shera's ammunition ran out, and Aeris' casting slowed, and Cid's spear broke and he was forced to use the broken end, and Tifa heard her wrist snap, and Cloud's sword became harder to lift, and Yuffie's legs once again ran red with blood despite the protection of her…missing…friend's cape.

And then, suddenly, in a last ditch effort to save what remained of its life, the remnants of the Lifestream surrounded the last survivors, lifting them up, taking them through the rift the _Heartless_ had created when they had invaded Gaia.

But the Lifestream was damaged and dying, consumed by darkness just as the planet had been, and, in its weakness, it allowed Shera to slip into the void that was the connection between the worlds.

The five remaining companions were deposited in a field in some world they instinctively knew was not their own, and they realized their loss, and wept, and wept for their other lost friends as well, and the people, and the towns, and their planet, their world, while curious onlookers gathered to stare at the newcomers who fell from the sky.

…..….….….….….….…

_Yay, finally finished the first chapter!_

_The end was a little weird, but they had to get to Radiant Garden somehow!_

_Anyway, this is going to be a collection of events from Kingdom Hearts as seen from the Final Fantasy characters' point of view; I'll try to alternate between characters, with some added scenes ('cause Aeris and Yuffie don't really get many events as compared to Cloud and Leon)._

_The next chapter is my attempt at how Leon got to Radiant Garden, but I know less about FF8 than FF7, so it may be a while before I figure out how to write it… _

_I appreciate reviews, and if you noticed something I messed up, please tell me!_

_Sayonara!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi again!_

_I hope you all like this, 'cause I had to do some serious research on the characters of FF8. I hope I kept reasonably in character…_

_And this is an odd case where I actually update within a short amount of time. Sorry, but as much as I'd like it to, this probably won't be a recurring theme. Especially since I'll be on a boat for the next 10 days…_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any related characters and concepts ('cause honestly, if I did, I might actually know more about the characters…)._

…..….….….….….….…

Squall squinted as he looked toward the distant figure of Balamb Garden. If they hurried, they might make it back by nightfall.

"Come on! I wanna get _home!_" Selphie called from farther up. Squall blinked, then followed her wordlessly.

They had been walking for a little over an hour when he realized that something was wrong. He didn't know what, though, and it bothered him. It was as if a chill had set in, but that wasn't right, there was no wind; maybe like fear, but what was there to fear out here, on a pleasant forest road; maybe like premonition, but that wasn't right…

It was like he was being watched.

He was still lost in thought when Selphie screamed.

Squall looked up just in time to see her vanishing into the bushes at the side of the path. Maybe that explained what seemed so wrong.

Zell was already running into the bushes after Selphie, and Squall quickly followed, gunblade at the ready. He emerged in a sort of clearing and nearly crashed into Zell, who was standing frozen just beyond the bushes, seemingly in shock. Squall dodged to the side to avoid colliding with him, and quickly discovered the cause.

Selphie was laying in the clearing in a growing pool of red, her chest torn open. An odd, black creature resembling a cross between an ant and a puppy was sitting on her bloody stomach, looking around in a quizzical manner that might have been adorable under different circumstances.

Squall froze beside Zell, staring. He couldn't exactly figure out how to react, though he felt his stomach beginning to churn in horror. Then the shadow creature noticed them.

Somehow, the adorable "ant-dog" didn't seem so adorable when its claws were tearing into his leg.

Squall slashed at the creature, and it dissipated, leaving nothing behind. He and Zell stared at the place where it had been for a moment longer, then rushed over to Selphie, though they both knew it was too late.

Squall had heard that people were supposed to look peaceful in death, like they were sleeping. He himself had seen death often enough to vouch for that claim. However, Selphie didn't look peaceful, especially not with her ribcage exposed, blood spattered across her face, and a look of terror in her eyes. Zell stumbled to the edge of the clearing, and he could hear retching sounds. Squall sighed, and he could tell he was still in shock, because the reality of it hadn't set in yet.

Selphie was dead, and more of the ant-dogs (not, that's not right; _Shadows_) were literally popping up out of the clearing floor.

He picked up his gunblade from where he had rested it next to his friend's body, frantically trying to rationalize his current situation. What were they, and where the hell had they come from?

And then there was no more time to think.

…..….….….….….….…

Rinoa sat on a bench amid the gardens of Balamb Garden, throwing a stick for Angelo, who was more than happy to retrieve it for her to send flying again. It was a beautiful day, and she had finally escaped from the stuffy halls to enjoy the height of the afternoon outside. The flowers were just beginning to bloom, and their heady fragrance filled the air. When combined with the drowsy sunlight and the slight breeze, they had the extraordinary power of making people fall asleep.

Rinoa woke to Angelo's frantic barking. At first she thought he was excited, and she sat up to call him off whatever poor small animal he was terrorizing this time.

Instead, she watched as the small animal tore her dog to shreds. Another of the creatures rose up from the dog's chest, and both turned to her.

She screamed as more of the _Shadows_ began oozing from the ground, followed by other creatures that seemed similar, yet different. All of them focused on her, and, as one, began to move toward her. She knew she needed to run, yet her legs were frozen with fear.

Just as the first of the creatures began to claw at her legs, a gun sounded, blasting them away. Shouts followed as more and more students began to flow out of Balamb Garden, and, seeing the creatures, readied themselves to fight.

Then all hell broke loose.

…..….….….….….….…

Squall and Zell finally fought free of the clearing. They hit the path running; they had to get back to Balamb Garden to try and figure out what exactly was happening. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

He kept seeing an image of Selphie in his mind, lying on the ground with her life seeping out into the grass. They had had to leave her body; there was no way they could carry it and still outrun those things.

He didn't know if they could outrun them anyway.

Squall felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, like they would before lightning strikes nearby. Acting on instinct, he grabbed Zell by the collar and dragged him back.

A moment later, the path just in front of them erupted in a spear of darkness. It subsided a few moments later, and the two men were running again, this time dodging balls of fire and ice from a few flying creatures that Squall was sure were not in the books about wildlife in the region. He swung his blade around to his right, and caught a red one on its blade. The thing dissipated, but a blue one took its place, and shot a stream of ice at him. It struck him on his shoulder, burning like fire, and he stumbled in shock; just in time, because a fireball went streaking overhead at that moment, missing him by inches. Zell swore, and Squall glanced his way to see him beating a small flame out of the back of his vest.

They both looked up in time to see a large black creature appear, easily taller than both of them, floating in the air. It was vaguely human-shaped, but with large horns, a long tail, and several wings. It carried an oversized, saw-edged blue sword.

"What is that thing?" Zell asked nervously, taking up a defensive stance.

Squall brought his gunblade to bear. "I don't know," he replied, but at the same time, something in the back of his head said, _Invisible_.

Apparently, the same thing had happened to Zell, because he suddenly said, "Well, it doesn't look invisible to _me!_"

There was no time for a reply. The creature swept forward, fast as shadow, swinging its blue sword wildly. Zell jumped out of the way, having no weapon to block with. Squall swung his gunblade up; the shock caused by the meeting of the two blades nearly made his arm go numb, and he could feel his shoulder burn where the blue thing had frozen it. He jumped quickly out of the way, and nearly collided with another creature that had appeared behind him.

The situation was quickly going downhill; more of the shadow monsters (_Heartless_) were appearing by the second, and the two men were already so heavily outnumbered, and the things moved so fast it was impossible to outrun them, and they used magic, seemed to be innumerable, came out of nowhere, and, to top it all off, they were some of the strangest and most alien creatures Squall had ever seen…

His musings were interrupted by a horrible, piercing scream. He turned quickly, just in time to see Zell disappear in another of the dark columns. There was no time to react; one second he was there, the next…

Squall shuddered. It had to be a bad dream. There was no way this was happening. How many people had joked about 'alien invasions'…

And now it was happening, and he knew, deep down, that it wasn't a dream. It was a living nightmare, but it was real, and unless he started fighting for his life, he would not live to see the end of it.

…..….….….….….….…

Rinoa stared in open shock as wave after wave of black shadows approached the Garden and were repelled, only to be replaced by yet more creatures. And she watched as more and more people fell to be swarmed by the _Shadows_, torn open, and made into yet another shadow creature. And there was nothing to do but watch, and pray, and hope _someone _would pinch her and snap her out of whatever daydream she was caught in.

One of the shadows appeared at her feet, oozing up from the ground to scratch at her legs. She stomped on it desperately; she was unarmed, and so had stayed back from the fighting. There was a bang, and the thing disintegrated. She turned to thank the gunman behind her.

His eyes were wide in terror, and as a long, long shadow fell across the Garden, Rinoa could feel her blood freeze. She slowly forced her terrified body to turn around.

Her vision was filled with black. No, that wasn't right. The thing she was looking at was so big, it filled her vision. Or something like that.

And it was glaring at them like death itself would glare at its next victims.

…..….….….….….….…

Squall leapt backward as yet another of the shadow creatures disappeared, and three more swarmed forward. He had no idea how long he had been fighting, or how much longer he could hold out against the _Heartless_. He knew he could not hope to win against so many, and that they would keep coming, and coming…

But he could not run either; the flying creatures would catch up to him, or a fireball would take him out from behind, and that would be that.

And there was the issue of the horde of _Heartless_ behind him, too…

But suddenly, they weren't attacking anymore. They were staring past him, in the direction of Balamb Garden. Cautiously, he turned around to look.

To see a huge, black…well, to call it a dragon put dragons to shame, but there was really no better word…a huge black _monster_ rising up above Balamb Garden. The thing rivaled the size of the Garden, and when it opened its mouth, despite the distance, Squall could hear the low thunder of its roar. The dragon's thunderous roar joined with the thunder from the clouds he had not noticed gathering, and lightning flashed. Slowly, more and more 'dragons' joined the first, rising up across the landscape. Stoic Squall nearly cried out in despair; he had no idea if the whole of the SeeDs could handle even one of the things, not to mention the dozen that had risen up around them.

An earthquake began, slow at first, but slowly increasing in intensity, as if the planet were in agony. Squall was forced to his knees by the tremors. He was dimly aware that the _Heartless_ horde was streaming past him, going to join their powerful allies in their assaults. He felt like he should be attacking them, but exhaustion, grief, and despair left him kneeling there, gunblade held limply at his side, as the last of the creatures fled. The rain began to fall, fast and hard, as if the skies wept.

And then there was a loud noise, a flash of something he didn't have time to identify, and everything went black.

…..….….….….….….…

_Look forward to the next chapter! I'll try to have it up…soon…_

_Thanks all who reviewed my last chapter!_

_Sayonara!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hi all!_

_I actually typed this while on a cruise ship, so if it's a little incoherent, please understand. I posted this as soon as I got my Internet service back, so…sorry for any delay._

_And, of course, I hate proofing my own stuff, so that took a while, too._

_Enjoy!_

…...

Aeris sighed as she slid the last of the books on her stack back into its place on the library shelf.

When they had arrived in the new world, they had been amazed to find that they not only understood the language spoken here, but could read and write it as well. On discovering this, Aeris and Tifa had made it their mission to discover as much as they could about this world and what had happened to theirs. It seemed the Heartless were not just a strange phenomenon in their world; they existed on others as well. In fact, they were already appearing in this new world-Radiant Garden-but in smaller numbers than they had on Gaia. She held back tears as that thought came up, bringing with it thoughts of friends, and places, and so many they would never see again…

She shook her head, trying to clear it of the memories, but they refused to go. She decided to go out to the castle's growing flower garden to try and lose herself in her work. She couldn't cry now; as much as she wanted to, she felt she needed to be strong for the others, who were trying to be strong for her. But it was so difficult. Yuffie cried in her sleep, caught in an endlessly repeating nightmare; Cid was more irritable of late, and most of the town's inhabitants refused to come near him; Cloud had begun brooding again, and Aeris could tell he blamed himself; Tifa tried to smile, but when she thought no one was looking, a single tear would escape and make its way down her cheeks, silent tribute to what they had all lost.

They were currently living with Merlin, an old but wise magician who had been one of the first to find them in the field when they had first arrived and had offered them a place to stay. They had been there for four days now, researching the worlds and trying to determine what they were going to do next.

Yesterday, while wandering the areas around the castle, they had met more people who had been saved by the Lifestream. They had exchanged stories, and had determined that, as far as they knew, there were about four dozen people who had been saved; while it was a depressingly small number compared to the population of Gaia, it was more than they had expected, and a small light in the darkness of their situation.

Aeris was lost in these thoughts, climbing the castle stairs, when something crashed into her. She grabbed the railing to steady herself, disoriented; she heard a thump and a muffled "Ow!". She looked up to see Yuffie sprawled on the stairs, shaking her head as if to clear it. The ninja looked up and grinned.

"Aeris, I was looking for you! You have to come now, we found someone in the street, and he doesn't look to good, and…"

As the ninja prattled on, giving Aeris a complete description of the man they had found, the injuries he had, and her feelings on the sea salt ice cream Tifa had given her earlier, Aeris was running up the stairs two at a time. She stopped just long enough to grab a small bag from her room before heading to a room where Tifa and Merlin sat beside her patient.

Yuffie was right; he did look bad, but not nearly as bad as Aeris had gathered from her speech. He had the same scratches they all had from fighting Heartless hordes, his shoulder was a nasty case of frostbite, and he probably had a concussion judging by the blood drying on his face, but other than that, he seemed to simply be unconscious.

"Oh, Aerith, you came!" Merlin said from the other side of the room. She had no idea why he called her 'Aerith', if it was a mispronunciation or simply a mistake; he had done so since they had met four days ago, and every time she tried to correct him, he simply continued with whatever he had been saying earlier. She didn't know if she minded or not; it was sort of fitting, as she most certainly wasn't the same person she had been before their planet had died.

She debated trying to correct him, but decided against it. It wasn't really worth it, anyway, and she had more important things to do. She had opened her bag and had begun to sort through the various items inside when her patient sat up suddenly, looking around with a wild light in his eyes. His hand reached around, as if for a weapon, but there was none. He turned slowly, taking in the strange room and its inhabitants. For a few moments, no one spoke. Finally, he turned, and saw her with a role of bandages in her hands.

He cleared his throat. "Where am I?" he asked gruffly. He winced, absently rubbing his frozen shoulder.

"You're in my castle, in a world called Radiant Garden," Merlin replied easily, as if he talked to people from another world every day. Actually, come to think of it, he did. "My name is Merlin. This is Tifa, and that is Aerith." She opened her mouth to correct the magician, but he kept going. "What is your name?"

The man considered for a moment, cloudy-grey eyes troubled, and for a moment, Aeris worried that he had hit his head hard enough to forget. However, a few moments later, he replied, "Leon." He appeared to consider a moment longer, then asked, "How did I get here?"

This time, Tifa replied. "We don't know; we found you lying in a street about three blocks from here. Your world was probably overrun by Heartless, like ours was." Even as far away from Tifa as she was, Aeris could see her eyes glimmering, but the other woman blinked the tears back quickly.

Leon looked around at them again; his expression was stoic, but his eyes were desperate. "Are there…is there anyone else…here…from my world? Did you find anyone…besides me?"

"Not yet," Aeris replied soothingly, "but we only just found others from our world. I bet some of your friends made it, too."

Leon nodded distractedly, staring at nothing. Tifa leaned over and gently pushed him back. "You need to rest. You can start looking tomorrow; no one's going anywhere right now."

Leon gave no reply, but obediently lay back down. Aeris once again began to sort through her bag of supplies.

…

Yuffie trailed alongside Leon as they wandered through the streets of Radiant Garden. She had made it her personal mission to get him to crack a smile. Or, for that matter, show some emotion, period. It had been a week since they had found him in that street, and she had yet to see him show his feelings for any reason.

So as they walked, she described Wutai, and Midgar, and her friends from Gaia, trying to get her silent companion to laugh, smile, frown, _anything_. After every story, she'd ask him a question about his home and his friends, but all she received for her troubles were monosyllabic answers or awkward silences. So finally, she gave up trying to start a conversation, and instead simply continued to chatter on and on about her old life, and if a tear slipped down her cheek once or twice, at least her companion never mentioned it.

She was halfway through a story about a man she knew who, in a drunken stupor, had tried to take a cat to trial for spilling his drinks and stealing his apples when a ridiculous looking black ball appeared in front of her. It had two earflaps and a tail, as well as a mouth full of sharp looking teeth. The grin it gave her was so bizarre she broke out in laughter as she automatically reached for her shuriken.

She froze. It wasn't there.

Before she had time to consider that thought any further, the black ball went into a frenzy, zipping all over the place at random. She jumped backward and tripped over something, sprawling on the pavement behind her. Even as the weird ball-thing came toward her, she laughed; the only thought in her mind was, _What an odd place to leave a teapot_.

Before she could come to terms with the danger she was in, there was a flash of metal, and the Dark Ball dissipated. Leon stood behind where it had been, odd gun-sword-thing raised for another strike. He lowered it slowly, glancing around, but no other creatures appeared. He turned and began to walk away as she scrambled quickly to her feet.

_I definitely need to get another weapon_, she thought as she hurried after him.

…

Tifa looked up as the door closed behind Leon and Yuffie, the latter chattering incessantly about some cat being acquitted of all charges. She started to ask if they had found what they were looking for, but the look on Leon's face told her the answer before she had formed the question. She sighed, but before she could say anything, he vanished into the room behind her. Yuffie flopped down at the table across from her, quiet for once. She eyed Tifa's water pointedly, and Tifa pushed it toward her. The ninja grabbed it and emptied it quickly, eyeing the bottom as if she wondered where it had all gone. The look on her face was so comic that, for the first time since they had come to Radiant Garden, Tifa laughed. Yuffie's face lit up, and she opened her mouth to say something.

The door opened again, and Cloud swept through, his face dark and brooding. Of all of them, he was the only one who had not lost his weapon in the fierce last battle; the huge sword hung loosely from his hand. He had taken to wearing Vincent's cape; it gave him a dramatic air, though he obviously had not intended it that way. Yuffie looked up and saw him standing there, the cape draped limply across his shoulders; the tears she had been holding back all day finally broke loose at that last reminder of their loss, and she rushed from the room. Cloud watched her go, looking resigned. Tifa sighed again; she had no idea why he continued to wear the cape if it bothered him when the others got upset looking at it.

Well, that wasn't true; she really did know. But still.

She nodded meaningfully to the chair Yuffie had just vacated, and Cloud wisely took her hint. He leaned his sword against the wall and sat down across from her. He refused to meet her gaze, studying the wood grain as if it were the most interesting thing he had seen all day. She sighed, guessing at what he was thinking.

"It wasn't your fault," she told him quietly. He jerked, surprised, and his bright blue eyes met her brown ones. She smiled warmly at him, and she thought she saw a hint of an answering smile from him, but it was gone so fast she couldn't be sure. He coughed.

"What…are we gonna do now?"

She shook her head. "I'm not sure yet. I've been reading a report by someone called Ansem. He researched the Heartless, and may know how to stop them." She hesitated a moment. "But the reports have been scattered throughout the worlds…"

Cloud nodded. "So we need to find them."

"It's a start."

At that moment, Leon walked in, gunblade resting on his shoulder. He looked meaningfully at Cloud, and though Tifa had no idea what he wanted, apparently Cloud did; he rose, picked up his sword, and followed Leon out the door.

Tifa sighed, suddenly feeling lonely. Now that she was alone, her thoughts were beginning to run rampant, and that usually turned out to be a bad thing. She decided that she should probably go locate Yuffie.

She found the ninja with Cid and Aeris in front of a large computer screen. Cid was arguing with her about the correct way to install a Navigational Gummi (whatever that was), while Aeris tapped away at the keyboard. Tifa listened to them for a moment; while it was apparent that Cid was right, and knew it, Yuffie was adamant that just plugging the damn thing in anywhere would work just fine. Tifa giggled, and the three of them turned to look at her. Yuffie, back to her usual self, gave her a huge grin and, with characteristic disregard for the current subject and mood, asked, "What's for dinner?"

…...

_As of me typing this, I've already begun the next chapter, so it should be up soon after this one. And it looks like its gonna be a whole lot longer, too…_

_Thanks to all who have reviewed!_

_Sayonara!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi there!_

_I think my creativity bug is slowly but surely dying; I don't like this chapter much, especially not the ending._

_Hopefully the next one will be better…_

…

It had been a little over two months since they had landed in Radiant Garden. Slowly but surely, they had begun to piece their lives back together; while things would never be the way they once were, and though each of them carried heavy scars from their ordeals, they had all begun to move forward again.

Cid had been amazed by the technology of the new worlds, and had begun to spend hours on the computer puzzling out the workings of various foreign objects. Since the worlds did not have airships, he had begun to work with another vehicle, which, for whatever reason, was called a 'gummi ship'. These ships could travel not only on routes within worlds, but could also pass through the connections between worlds. Cid soon had several to dismantle and rebuild, learning about each of the parts and designing his own; within a few weeks, he had flown his creations to nearby Neverland and back. He had grumbled about flying kids for a week.

Tifa continued to research the Heartless. As Cid began to go farther and farther with his 'gummi ship', she began to accompany him, looking for pages of Ansem's report, searching through foreign libraries, and talking to people about their experiences with the shadow-creatures. She and Merlin spent many late nights peering at various charts and pieces of paper on a table in the magician's study, and she would often be found early in the morning sleeping on whatever she had been reading late the night before (or earlier that morning).

Aeris had finally admitted that she preferred being called Aerith, as the people in Radiant Garden called her; as she said, a new life on a new world required a new identity, even if it only changed one letter. She had begun to study the magic of the worlds, along with the various objects that utilized it. She had quickly become an adept healer, and came to be known around Radiant Garden for her abilities and her willingness to help. She also planted her own flower garden, which flourished under her care; soon, she would once again be able to sell flowers to the townspeople.

Leon had begun to open up a little, and even told a few short stories about his life before he came to Radiant Garden. He even cracked a small smile once, when Yuffie tripped on the stairs, tumbled all the way down, did a flying somersault to her feet, then stood there looking so disoriented and disbelieving that she ended up falling over backwards anyway. He and Cloud had begun sparring, but it was soon obvious that Cloud had the upper hand, both through mako enhancements and experience. Yuffie convinced a local weaponsmith to make her several new shuriken, and after a long explanation, several diagrams, and some help from everyone to earn the munny, she once again sported a large collection of throwable weaponry. She took to teaming up with Leon against Cloud, and though Cloud still kicked their butts every time, at least they lasted longer against him together than either of them could have alone. She had also stopped crying whenever she saw the cloak Cloud wore; they had all come to see it as representing something other than their loss, though no one could say what it was.

And yet, despite the new air of contentment everyone seemed to have, each of them was hyperaware of the increasing number of Heartless in Radiant Garden. It was an unspoken fact that training was no longer purely exercise; their efforts took on renewed fervor with each new report of massing Heartless. And all of them wondered if they could save this world when they could not save their last.

…

Leon blinked sweat out of his eyes and watched as Yuffie was thrown back, the last of her no-longer-so-shiny new shuriken falling to the ground just out of her reach. He raised his gunblade as quickly as he could (which, given his exhaustion, was relatively slowly), but not quick enough; there was a flash of metal, a wrench in his arm, and his weapon flew out of his hand to be neatly caught by the blond standing in front of him, huge sword at his throat. Cloud paused a moment longer, then lowered his own blade and tossed Leon's back to him.

Yuffie heaved a huge sigh and sank to the ground, back to the wall. Leon felt his weapon as a dead weight in his hand, but he refused to let go. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes briefly. How the blond managed to fight for hours on end without tiring (or, at least, without showing it) was beyond him.

He could hear the ninja cursing loudly as she pushed herself up and began to gather her weaponry. Both of his sparring partners began to walk out of the alley they practiced in.

"Leon! Ya coming or what?" he heard Yuffie shout. He opened his eyes and followed his companions out of the alley.

Wait. When had they become his companions?

He didn't want companions. He never had. Or maybe…no. He didn't_ need_ anyone.

And yet…he had made friends at Balamb Garden, whether he had admitted it or not, opened up to them or not.

And he had let them all die, watched them die, and hadn't been able to do anything about it.

He didn't want to go through that kind of pain again. He didn't want to let anyone get close to him because he didn't want to lose anyone else.

So how, in two months, had these strangers become his friends?

Was it their situation, so similar to his own?

Was it the way Tifa gave him a reassuring smile, though he was sure he hadn't shown any of his inner turmoil on his face?

The way Cid loudly cussed out the man who had nearly dropped that heavy box on him that day in the back alley?

The way Yuffie chattered incessantly about some random topic, then tripped down the stairs because she was too focused on her story to notice them?

The way Cloud looked at him, with the understanding that came of sharing feelings, though they were for different people?

The way Aerith had woken him from that nightmare that night two weeks back, the one where he watched as each of his friends was torn to pieces before his eyes while he stood, splattered with their blood, unable to do anything as they died? The way she dried his single tear without asking any questions, and gave him a hug that told him she understood?

She was so much like Rinoa, come to think of it.

But Rinoa was gone. He hadn't been able to save her.

Leon didn't realize he had stopped, staring into space, as his thoughts chased themselves in circles through his head, until Yuffie poked him. He blinked, and stepped back when his eyes focused to find his vision full of impatient ninja.

"Lets _go!_ Aeris is mak…no…wait…_Aerith's_ making dinner, and I'm _hungry!_"

Leon looked beyond her, to where Cloud stood with that same understanding look in his eyes, then back at the ninja staring him in the face. He nodded.

"…Yeah. Let's go."

…

Aerith walked quickly through the back alleys of Radiant Garden. Leon trailed just behind her, a silent but watchful presence. He had insisted on going with them every time they went somewhere now. She supposed it made sense, given the increasing number of Heartless; even more sense, since it was nearly midnight.

And besides, she knew he was afraid of losing his companions again.

And Cloud still hadn't come back.

Three days ago, he had been sitting with Tifa at the table in Merlin's study, listening to her explain her recent discoveries. Suddenly, he had gone pale and started staring at the opposite wall, as if he were looking beyond it. Tifa had had to call his name several times to get a reaction; he had looked at her, fear in his eyes for the first time she could remember, and said, "He's here."

Then he had walked out of the house. None of them thought anything of it; they all came and went all the time, and Cloud could take care of himself.

But, three days later, he still hadn't come back.

Almost absentmindedly, Aerith cast Fire at a hapless Shadow that had popped up in her path; it disappeared, but she didn't even notice. She could barely see Leon lowering his gunblade, having taken out two more of them.

She was so distracted as she turned into the next dark alley that she didn't see the bundle lying in her path until she had tripped over it and landed in a puddle. She raised herself up slowly, disoriented, and turned.

Leon was staring at the bundle, horrified. She looked at it confusedly, but it looked no different to her.

Wait.

"Cloud?" Her companion rushed over to the bundle, turned it over, and, to her horror, she could see that it really was her blond friend. She forced herself not to think about the 'puddle' she had just landed in; there were more important things to consider.

Like the deep puncture wounds in her friend's stomach and shoulder and leg. Or the gashes almost everywhere else. Or his broken arm. Or something.

A quick evaluation told her none of his injuries were fatal, but he was still losing blood and had lost so much already. A quick glance at Leon told him everything he needed to know; he nodded, and picked up the blond's limp form. Then they were rushing back to Merlin's through streets increasingly filled with _shadows_.

…

Tifa watched, worried, as Aerith put away the last of her potions and bandages and leaned back in her chair. She sighed, obviously exhausted; there was only so much _Cure_-ing a person could do, even one as gifted as Aerith.

They were all once again crammed into this tiny little room around a patient in a bed, although this time, the patient was Cloud. Leon leaned against the wall instead, ready to help if needed. Yuffie and Cid had agreed to go search for Cloud's sword, and, despite her protests to wait, had left immediately. She sighed inwardly, but supposed it was better than having the two of them sitting and waiting in this tiny little room…together…with nothing to do…for hours…

Yeah. It was better that they had gone out.

Just in front of her, Cloud stirred, drawing her out of her reverie. He was staring blankly at the ceiling, expression unreadable.

It was silent for a few more moments. Then Leon stood up.

"What happened?"

Tifa and Aerith blinked. Of course he wouldn't know. But they knew; or guessed, at least. As if to confirm her suspicions, she could see Cloud's eyes glaze over a little as memories of fire and death and terror and pain came rushing back.

She had only seen wounds like that after one fight, and that fight had been with…

"Sephiroth."

Leon blinked, confused. Of course he was confused. He had never met the general, had never been involved with him. Couldn't possibly know what that name meant for all of them who had been fighting him for weeks, if not months, in an attempt to protect the planet.

Which, in the end, they had failed to do anyway.

Leon looked like he was going to ask another question, but just about then, Yuffie burst through the door, looking frantic. Cid came in several steps behind her, complaining loudly about having to carry 'brat's damn heavy sword', but no one paid any attention to him. They were all trying to get a comprehensible explanation from Yuffie. However, she just kept saying, "It's terrible! You gotta get out there!"

Finally, Leon picked up his gunblade and ran out of the room. Cloud made as if to follow, but Aerith pushed him back down and glared at him. Cid and Yuffie dashed out; Tifa followed them. As she sprinted through the halls and down the stairs, one thought played over and over again in her mind: _please don't let us loose this home, too._

…

Yuffie sighed as she threw another of her shuriken at another black shadow. Déjà vu. Dimly, she wondered if they were going to lose this world to the darkness, just like Gaia.

Gaia.

She would have been blinking back tears had the situation been any different. Of course, had the situation been different, she wouldn't need to be blinking back tears. So maybe she was just too tired…no, she wasn't tired! She was too…um…focused! Focus was good. Everyone was always telling her to focus.

Like the time she'd been cooking with Tifa and broken the plates and put in salt instead of sugar. Tifa had told her to focus.

Aerith had told her to focus while they looked through endlessly boring books about worlds and Heartless and worlds with Heartless and worlds without Heartless and a bazillion other boring topics.

When she'd been walking with Leon and tripped down the stairs, he'd…well…he hadn't actually told her to focus, but he'd been thinking it.

Anyway. Focus.

She could hear people screaming all around her. It was worse than Midgar. At least in Midgar, they'd had some warning, and the people had been training, and she'd been far away when they all died.

Here, she had to listen to the continuous screams of terrified children and desperate adults.

Sounds of a battle slowly and brutally lost.

She sighed again as a Shadow popped up again and she threw her shuriken at it. Again.

Maybe focus wasn't always a good thing.

…

Leon looked around frantically, feeling unwanted terror beginning to close up his throat, and forcing it back down. All of them had scattered, trying to help where they could, but it was immediately obvious that nothing any of them did would make any difference.

He swore loudly. Why was he always so _helpless_?

He could hear people scream, hear their death cries, their shouts of agony as dark claws tore apart their chests and stole their hearts. Old, young, men, women, children…he turned away from the sight of the remains of an infant, wrapped in shredded, bloodied cloth. The woman he assumed was its mother lay a few feet away. It looked like something had tried to eat…

No. This was not happening. Why was this happening? Why did he have to lose every place he learned to call home, every person he called companion?

He unsuccessfully tried to force these thoughts down as he swung his gunblade at some large snake-looking thing. Which promptly grabbed it and yanked it from his hands.

He swore, an endless stream of useless words, as he watched the snake toss his blade behind it, far out of his reach. The thing's beady, glowing eyes focused on him hungrily, and he wondered dimly if he was going to die. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved.

He wasn't given time to make his choice. The monster swung its head down, fangs ready to tear him apart. He closed his eyes.

A sudden impact threw him backwards, and he landed hard on the concrete. He opened his eyes quickly; somehow, Cloud had escaped Aerith's notice, and was now standing in front of him, huge sword held slackly in both hands at his side. The snake-thing was gone.

Cloud extended a hand; Leon went to grab it, remembered his companion's condition, and, thinking better of it, heaved himself to his feet. He looked around him, and asked the nagging question.

"Where is everyone?"

Cloud turned. "Cid's getting the gummi ship ready. For when…"

He trailed off, but Leon understood. It was a last resort, for when their new home finally fell.

Who knows how much time passed after that, before he found himself at the edge of what had been Radiant Garden with his companions, fighting their way toward Cid and his gummi ship. It felt like days, but for all they knew, it could have been less than an hour.

They had all had enough of Heartless to last a lifetime.

They finally fought their way free of the Heartless, if only for a moment. But a moment was long enough, as Cid opened the hatch and Aerith and Yuffie leapt on. Leon went to board as well, but turned around suddenly.

"Where's Tifa?"

Cloud looked up from where he leaned against the ship, stricken; they didn't have long to wonder, though. They could all hear a deep laugh, though none of them could see its owner. A voice followed.

"I am your darkness, Cloud Strife. I will take all that is precious to you."

"Sephiroth," the blond murmured. Then he was gone, rushing back toward the ruins of the town.

Leon went to follow him; there was no way Cloud was in any condition to fight. He turned to Cid.

"Take off, but stay close. If we're not back in 15 minutes…"

Yuffie gasped, but Cid nodded. Leon jumped back, and watched for a brief moment as the ship rose to hover in the sky, several dozen feet above the battleground. Then he was fighting his way back through the hordes of shadow-creatures.

He caught up to Cloud at the edge of town. The blond was breathing hard and clutching at his stomach; blood seeped through the bandages. Leon stopped briefly to wait for him, searching what was left of the houses for any sign of life. Mercifully, the screaming had stopped.

There was no one left to scream.

Cloud began to run again, dashing down side streets and alleyways seemingly at random. Leon easily kept up with him. He looked around, surprised that nothing more powerful than Shadows had attacked them yet. They were going to have to leave soon, or they would never make it to the gummi ship.

They rounded another corner, and found both Tifa and the powerful Heartless at the same time.

She was collapsed against a wall down the street, surrounded by Shadows. Invisibles and Dark Balls ranged up and down the street, but, interestingly, they weren't attacking. They floated past the living person as if completely oblivious. At the next street corner, a large bull-looking creature stood among the wreckage of a building.

Tifa saw them, and tried to stand, but her leg was broken, and she fell back again. Leon ran toward her, quickly outpacing his injured companion, but, as if her movement was the signal, she was suddenly swarmed with Shadows. She fought back for a minute, but even so, there was no way he was going to make it on time. She gave him a last small smile before she disappeared under the rush of shadow-monsters.

He was vaguely aware that Cloud was yelling something, and there was a clash of metal-on-metal behind him, but when he turned, he only caught a flash of silver and black before it was gone. Cloud was frozen, staring at where his friend had been. Leon rushed up to him, forcing his own thoughts to the back of his mind, and shook him, but the blond just stared ahead, looking lost. Leon sighed.

"You have a job to do, don't you?" he growled. He knew it was harsh, but he had to say something to snap him out of his shock. He wasn't a mercenary commander for nothing.

Cloud looked at him dully. He hesitated, but nodded.

Then they were running again, fleeing the stronger Heartless that had suddenly congregated, as if given permission to attack them. Leon cut down the ones that blocked their path; Cloud ran as if in a dream, completely unaware of their situation.

They barely made it to the gummi ship in time; in fact, Leon thought for sure it had been longer than 15 minutes, but Cid claimed the clock still read 10. There was no time to argue; he jumped in, dragging Cloud after him, as Cid took them away from their second home.

And their second world lost.

…

_Reviews are welcome, and if anyone can point out what's wrong with this, I'd appreciate it._

_Sayonara!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Double update! Yay!_

'_Cause I seriously don't like proofing my stuff, so I put off the last one until I'd typed this one…_

…_Yeah…_

_Not sure I like this, it's a different format and kind of a filler chapter before I start the Kingdom Hearts storyline…_

_Ah, well._

_Enjoy!_

…

Cloud, Leon, Cid, Yuffie, Aerith, and Merlin were clustered around a table in one of the two hotel rooms they had "rented" (though with the number of Heartless in this area, the rent was rather cheap). Merlin was detailing all the information he and Tifa had come up with. So far, they had learned about Keyblades and their masters, Heartless, the world's hearts, and Kingdom Hearts. Yuffie had zoned out about 10 minutes ago, and Cid was mumbling about his head bursting from confusion, but Cloud, Leon, and Aerith gamely tried to keep up with what the magician was saying.

"When the darkness is banished and Kingdom Hearts closed, the worlds should return to normal and their inhabitants restored," Merlin continued.

"But not ours," Leon guessed, voice flat.

"…no, I don't think so."

"But why not?" asked Yuffie, clinging to her last vestiges of hope. Maybe the old magician was wrong.

"I think it has something to do with the way your planet and its lifeblood, the thing you call the Lifestream, interacted," Merlin began. "Gaia's life stemmed from the Lifestream. However, the Lifestream was so prevalent in all matters of the planet that it was easy for the darkness to find its way in and kill your world's light and, by extension, its very life force." Yuffie opened her mouth, but the magician just kept going. "In most other worlds, the power of the world's heart comes from Kingdom Hearts, as does the power of each of our own hearts. Thus are the worlds connected, and though the worlds fall to the Heartless, their hearts survive. I believe that your planets were detached from this web of power, each with its own life force and power source. When the darkness snuffed out that source, the planets were killed as well, and the dead can never return to life. Your worlds are gone." The magician looked around at all of them, their faces frozen in looks of shock. He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

Leon pushed himself away from the wall. "But in my world, we didn't have a Lifestream, or even anything like it…"

Merlin shook his head again. "You used magic, did you not?" Leon nodded warily. "And your magic is completely unique to your world?" Once again, Leon nodded. "Then, most likely, you also had a force similar to Gaia's Lifestream that you simply had not discovered yet. The Heartless destroyed it and, so, destroyed your world." The magician paused, as if he wanted to say something comforting after breaking the news, but before he could, Yuffie piped up.

"What about Radiant Garden?"

Merlin nodded. "Radiant Garden was-and still is-connected to Kingdom Hearts. It should return, with all its inhabitants..."

Yuffie cut him off. "And Tifa?"

Cloud flinched, and Cid's mumbles began to sound suspiciously coarser. Merlin sighed.

"I don't know. I'm sorry; I don't know if she will come back as one of Radiant Garden's people, or, since she was from your world…"

The magician broke off, but he didn't need to say anymore. He tactfully changed the subject to finding the Keyblade master.

…

Cloud looked up at the night sky as he walked through the Third District of Traverse Town. Merlin had made a home here, sealed with magic, but there were few others who wanted to risk the Heartless to live here. Of the few who had escaped on gummi ships from their dying worlds, most lived in the First District, which had some protection against the monsters.

The lack of people meant it was quiet, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Most of them were about Sephiroth.

He had no idea how the man had survived; he was fairly sure the Lifestream wouldn't save someone who was trying to destroy the world, but there was a chance…

More likely, he thought, Sephiroth had become the embodiment of darkness, if only for him, and had been saved somehow through that. It made no sense, but it was the only explanation he could come up with.

And now Sephiroth was once again a threat to everything he loved.

He had tried to distance himself from his friends, tried to give them that measure of protection, but he knew it was a temporary measure. He had to leave.

He had to track down Sephiroth before he tracked them down instead.

Maybe he could protect them, to make up for those he couldn't protect.

Though as he walked away, refusing to look back, he knew that there was no way for him to truly atone for something like that.

…

Cid stared out at the Accessory Shop, not really seeing any of it. Memories of her smile were making him wonder why he hadn't taken what he had when he had it.

He sighed as he lit another cigarette. She had always told him he needed to quit.

He had always told her to #$% off.

She had always just smiled, as if his cussing made her happy.

He sighed again. Life just wasn't fair sometimes. You could work for something, protect it as best you could, and then have it stolen away in a freak chance of bad luck.

Why were human lives so often determined by something as fickle as luck, anyway?

And why the hell was he philosophizing?

He shook his head, convinced himself that the wetness in his eyes was a byproduct of the cigarette smoke, and went back to remembering her smile.

…

Barret yelled something before an Invisible caught him in the back, bearing him to the ground, where Shadows swarmed him.

Nanaki gave an inhuman scream as the Heartless tore him open.

Vincent lay on the ground, staring at the sky, red blood matching his red cloak.

Tifa smiled sadly just before an eruption consumed her in darkness.

Cloud walked away, a huge black wing extending from his back.

Aerith, Leon, and Cid stood in front of her, and, one by one, were cut down by the shadow-monsters.

Yuffie woke up screaming, drenched in cold sweat, tears running down her face. Immediately, Aerith was at her side, murmuring soothingly. A few moments later, Leon burst through the door, gunblade raised. His face was white, almost terrified, and it was several tense moments before he registered the lack of danger. He lowered his weapon, but did not relax. She could hear Cid cussing behind him, sounding just as worried as Leon had looked, but the younger man said something Yuffie couldn't hear, and Cid subsided into grumbling.

Yuffie was trembling; the darkness in the room was overwhelming. Aerith was singing something now, a lullaby in an old language, while Leon moved around the room, turning on every light he came to. Cid stood in the doorway, half-asleep, and had he not been so obviously worried about her, Yuffie would have never let him live down the ridiculous look on his face.

After a few minutes of sitting in relative silence, listening to Aerith sing, Cid went back to bed. Leon leaned up against the wall beside her bed, trembling from excess adrenaline. Yuffie blinked a few more times, and the tears finally stopped.

Aerith's voice trailed off gently as Yuffie lay back down. Leon nodded and began turning off lights, but, at her protest, left the one beside the bed on. It illuminated the room dimly, just enough to chase away the shadows of her nightmare.

Neither of her friends showed any sign of leaving as she lay back and closed her eyes, drifting into a dreamless sleep for the first time in weeks.

…

Leon tripped on the rocky floor, exhaustion making him clumsy. He lowered his weapon, muscles trembling a little.

He had found a sizeable underground chamber off the alley; it was the perfect size for sparring, though he had no partner today. It was also secluded and serene, which left him alone with his thoughts.

That could be both a good thing and a bad thing, and today, it was most definitely a bad thing.

He sighed and leaned up against the wall; he had no idea what time it was, but Aerith had come to get him for dinner maybe 45 minutes ago, so it had to be late. He had been there since before everyone else woke up, except for an hour or so he spent taking his frustration out on the weak Heartless that made a home in Traverse Town's 2nd District. He leaned his gunblade against the wall beside him and sank to the floor.

His mind was full of a smiling brunette in a blue dress, twirling in a field of flowers they had practically crashed into when Balamb Garden's engine had broken. They had evacuated the SeeDs, and spent most of the day in the flower field, sparring, eating whatever they had on hand, and, in _her_ case, dancing among the blossoms.

He sighed again, watching his friends in his mind's eye as they relaxed among the flowers. Though he would never admit it, it had been one of his best memories.

But they were gone; he had failed to protect them. He had lost everything twice over, and, yet, he lived on, one survivor out of the whole population of his world. He didn't even know how he had survived, for that matter; all he knew is that he shouldn't have. His eyes felt wet, but he automatically forced the tears back.

The memory changed; now he was watching them at the party held after the defeat of Ultimecia. Selphie had on Irvine's hat, and he was chasing after her trying to get it back. Quistis held a camera, and laughed as Selphie dodged around her and ran toward where he and Rinoa were standing. Rinoa laughed and he smiled as Selphie ducked behind him while Irvine ran past. Zell dodged him, carrying a plate of hot dogs.

Rinoa turned to him, beaming…

He smiled grimly in belated answer as he remembered. The tears finally broke free and ran silently down his face while he sat, lost in bittersweet memories.

…

Aerith sighed sadly, looking out onto the alleyway that backed the hotel. She had blasted the floating Heartless that abounded back here into oblivion when they appeared, so there was no disturbance in the night air. Of course, it was always night in Traverse Town…

She sighed again. Everyone had seemed so sad of late. Leon took to disappearing for hours on end, Cloud had disappeared altogether, and Yuffie and Cid were acting…normal. They had taken to running the local Accessory Shop, and she could count on at least one of them actually being there. She almost grinned as she thought of bouncy Yuffie waiting behind a counter all day. Or gruff Cid helping customers find what they need.

Then she sighed again. It was getting to be a habit.

She had continued researching with Merlin, and continued to practice magic in a room he set up for that very purpose. Sometimes she would take a gummi ship to another world to search for more pages of Ansem the Wise's reports. Leon would always insist on going with her. She felt bad for him: he had lost more than the rest of them had.

At least they still had each other.

And as cliché as it sounded, she knew it was the truth. It was what let Yuffie sleep in peace, kept Cid civil, and kept her sane.

She could only pray that the rest of what remained of her world would come back safely.

She looked down from her perch on the balcony wall; the stars were reflected in the water, and the ripples made them dance. She did smile this time, watching the flecks of light dancing in the darkness.

And jumped when something tapped her on the back. She whirled, magic crackling at her fingers, before she recognized the king of the worlds, Mickey Mouse. He smiled reassuringly, and motioned her inside.

…

Cloud still refused to look back as he passed under the golden archway into the greatest gossip-area in all the worlds, the Olympus Coliseum; his friends' faces burned in his memory, as much as he tried to force them out, and his thoughts kept telling him, "It was the only way."

…

Cid sighed and ground out his cigarette, finally resolving to quit his habit; better late than never, he told himself as a tear that had nothing to do with cigarette smoke finally broke loose.

…

Yuffie forced the memories back as she walked into the streets of Traverse Town, trying to deny her newfound fear of the dark as she explored streets caught in eternal night and shadow.

…

Leon pushed himself up, splashed a little water from the underground pool on his face, and picked up his gunblade; as he walked back to the hotel, he did his best to compose himself, though memories of a certain Sorceress still plagued his thoughts.

…

As Aerith walked quickly to Merlin's with her news, pausing only to blast away a stray Shadow, she happened to look up at the same stars that had been dancing earlier, just in time to see one of the brightest, just above the horizon, wink and go dark.

…

_Next chapter, Sora shows up._

_Reviews are welcome, and thanks for reading!_

_Sayonara!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Yay! The start of the Kingdom Hearts timeline!_

_I tried to follow the dialogue from the game for the most part, besides some added stuff and a few lines I cut 'cause they didn't make any sense with my assumptions. I don't think Cid actually came from a different world in this, because he seemed confused when Sora told him about his island. Needless to say, I cut that bit out._

_Also, the four have them have been in Traverse Town for a decent length of time; not too long, but not that short, either._

_Okay, so this chapter makes some weird time-jumps. If you watch the cutscenes from Traverse Town, Aerith is explaining the exact same thing to Donald and Goofy as Leon and Yuffie are explaining to Sora, so the dialogue switches between the two. Looks good in cutscenes, but not in writing. So instead, I opted to write up Aerith's part, then switch to Leon and Yuffie's, so sorry for the confusing timelines!_

_Oh, and I'm laboring under the assumption that there was no way in anything Sora was going to beat a seasoned warrior like Leon on his first go. And I lost to him in the fight, anyway, so I know that some people may have beaten him, but it seems unlikely to me, and besides, this way makes more sense in the context._

_So, yeah…_

_Since I've been forgetting my disclaimers, I'll just say I don't own any of it. Never have, still don't, probably never will (though you never know…)_

_Anyway, enjoy!_

…

Cid stared at the wall, lost in thought. Aerith had told them about the star that had winked out: another world lost to the darkness.

However, she had also told them that the king had said a hero would come from that world, one that would return the lost worlds to light.

He could only hope that hero got here soon.

He turned as the door opened, absentmindedly calling out, "Hey there, how can I…"

A kid walked in the door, with brown spiky hair to rival Cloud's and a lost look on his face. "Aw, it's only a kid," he said, more to himself than said kid. The fact that the kid was here probably meant his world was destroyed. But Cid didn't want to think into that.

"I'm not a kid!" the kid retorted, lost look replaced with a glare. "And the name's Sora!"

Cid grinned. "Okay, okay, simmer down." The kid (_Sora_) looked around, the lost look back on his face. Cid felt sorry for him; if his world and his friends were truly gone…one way to find out. "So why the long face, Sora? You lost or somethin'?"

Sora glared again. "No!" He thought for a second. "Well, maybe." Another pause. "Where are we?"

Cid sighed inwardly. Looks like he was right. "Traverse Town." Seeing the kid's confused look, he elaborated. "You're in another world." The kid still looked confused, and he tried to explain further.

"Traverse Town…" Sora repeated. "So, gramps, is this really another world?" To Cid's amazement, the kid looked excited for a moment.

"Don't call me gramps!" he demanded gruffly. "The name's Cid. Anyway…I'm not sure, but this sure ain't your island."

"Hmm…" Sora murmured. He looked up, his expression much happier now. Cid blinked at this sudden change in mood. "Guess I better start looking for Riku and Kairi." 

The names meant nothing to Cid, but he waved it off. Most of what the kid had said didn't make since. "Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doing." He paused. For whatever reason, he had taken a liking to the kid. "If you ever run into trouble, you come to me. I'll look out for you." The kid's face lit up at that, and he nodded before running off again. Cid watched him go, wondering why he had said that. He didn't need anyone else to look after. And yet…

He really did wish the kid the best of luck.

…

Leon walked quickly down the streets of Traverse Town's First District. He had taken it upon himself to keep the Heartless out of the First District, since most people made their homes here. He had already found the body of one man who had not made it to safety, and he didn't want to lose any more.

He was surprised to notice someone with a large key disappearing into the Accessory Shop. He recognized the Keyblade, but not the master. He sighed. At least that explained the strange abundance of Heartless in the First District tonight.

Such as the dozen Shadows oozing up in that corner there.

By the time Leon had cut them down, the Keyblade master was walking out of the Shop. His heart gave a little twist when he saw that it was just a kid.

First things first, though; he needed to get the boy to safety.

"They'll come at you out of nowhere." Okay, so he really wasn't the best at communicating his intentions. The boy whirled, Keyblade appearing out of thin air.

"Who are you?" the kid asked, weapon held at the ready; once he saw Leon, he lowered it warily.

"And they'll keep on coming at you," Leon continued, trying to convince the boy of the danger he was in, "as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade."

"But why?" Leon wondered out loud suddenly. "Why would it choose a kid like you?" Was he jealous that the legendary weapon had chosen this kid over him? Sad at the thought of what this kid would go through?

The kid snapped him out of his thoughts with an indignant, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nevermind," Leon muttered, not really wanting to explain his reasonings to this kid. "Now, let's see that Keyblade," he continued, walking toward the boy with his hand outstretched.

He only wanted to examine the unique weapon, but the kid mistook his demand. "What? There's no way you're getting this!" The boy dropped into a loose defensive position, and Leon sighed inwardly. He didn't want to admit it, but he was envious of the boy.

Though he shouldn't be, he reasoned with himself. After all, he had been too weak to save two worlds already. Why would he think he could save the universe?

Not that these thoughts were helping him in any way. The kid watched him warily, but he was obviously inexperienced. Leon sighed, lifting his gunblade to his shoulder. "All right, then have it your way," he said, loosing patience with the argument.

He never was the best or most patient diplomat when it came to situations like these.

He did his best to go easy on the kid, dodging the wild blows instead of blocking them and pulling his strikes as best he could. He didn't want to hurt the boy, just get him to see reason.

But the kid was determined, and Leon could see glowing eyes gathering in the shadows cast by the streetlights. He swung a bit harder, hoping to disarm the boy.

Instead, the boy staggered and fell backward, unconscious. Leon blinked. He hadn't thought he'd hit him _that_ hard.

The glowing eyes were suddenly extinguished in a flash of metal. Leon turned.

"Hey, you found it! Nice going, Leon." Yuffie grinned at him from where she stood on the steps in front of the Shop, hands on her hips.

"Still…" he said slowly. "It looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse."

For once, Yuffie said nothing. Wordlessly, he handed her his gunblade, and, as an afterthought, the kid's Keyblade. He hefted the kid over his shoulder, wincing a bit at the bruises from the hits the boy had managed to land. He noticed that the Heartless were losing interest, now that the boy no longer held the weapon.

This wasn't the time to think about it. He followed the ninja, who was heading back to the hotel, dragged down by the heavy weight of his gunblade and the surprisingly light Keyblade. Maybe Aerith knew the answers.

…

Aerith was trailing two people down the alley, a dog and a duck. They weren't wearing the king's uniforms, but the king had said he would send two of his men, and besides, where else did you find talking animals that wore clothes like this?

She quickly caught up to them and tapped the duck on the shoulder, then jumped back as it shot skyward with a loud quack of protest. She tried not to laugh, figuring it would be a bad idea to add insult to injury. Instead, she asked gently, "Excuse me. Did the king send you?"

Both of them turned to look at her, and she had to try not to laugh again at the look on the duck's face. They nodded, and she smiled.

"Then come with me," she told them, and led them into the hotel room she shared with Yuffie. Leon was there, looking through some of her notes, but when she came in, he nodded and left.

They looked confused, and she sighed. "Okay, you know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," the duck agreed.

"But they're supposed to be a secret!" the dog cried, clapping his hands over his mouth as if he were the one at fault. Aerith smiled reassuringly.

"They've been a secret because they've never been connected," she continued. "Until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed." She closed her eyes in an attempt to soothe the stinging in her eyes.

For them, it would never be the same again.

"According to what Ansem found out…"

"Ansem?" the dog (Goofy, he'd said) asked.

"He was studying the Heartless," she replied. "He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report."

"Gawrsh, uh, can we see it?" Goofy asked. Aerith sighed. She wished.

"The pages are scattered everywhere."

"Scattered?" the duck (Donald) exclaimed.

"To many worlds," she clarified.

"Oh, then maybe the king went to find 'em," Goofy said, looking thoughtful. Donald nodded agreement.

"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly," Aerith smiled, happy to have gotten her point across.

"We've gotta find him, quick!" Goofy said, and made as if to leave.

"Wait!" Donald looked at her and lowered his voice, though she could still hear him just fine. "First, we need that 'key'!"

"That's right. The Keyblade." Both of them turned to look at her, as if surprised she could hear them.

She got up to go into the other room, but before she could, the door flew open, smashing Donald into the wall, and Yuffie ran past her.

"Yuffie?" she asked, but the ninja seemed too busy to answer. She grabbed her shuriken and ran back into the other room. Aerith followed; one of the windows was broken, and there was no one there.

Yuffie ran out the door, and she sprinted after.

…

(A/N: This happens at the same time the last one did. Sorry for the weird timing…)

Yuffie stared down at the sleeping form of the boy who was to be their hero. He looked…so…_boring_. How could he sleep for that long, anyway?

"Come on, lazy bum!" she growled at him. "Wake up!"

To her surprise and satisfaction, it worked. The boy sat up, shaking his head a little. He rubbed his temple absently as he turned to look at her. She grinned at him. "You okay?"

"I guess…" the boy said. He looked around the room, and, dimly, Yuffie wondered what it was Leon had said he wanted her to do. Oh, well.

Oh, that's right! Explain! "Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade," she said. From the look on the boy's face, he'd heard this already, but the happy, friendly (or more than friendly?) look he was giving her was beginning to creep her out. She forged on anyway. "But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade." The kid just kept looking at her like he'd found something wonderful, and she opened her mouth to ask him about it, but he beat her to it.

"I'm so glad that you're okay, Kairi," he said cheerfully. Yuffie blinked.

"Kairi? Who are you talking about?" she demanded. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie!"

"Huh?" The boy blinked, and when his eyes focused, the look of disappointment on his face nearly made her want to smack him. She wasn't good enough for him? Then again, she reasoned, he had just lost a lot…

Leon's return snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned, mildly annoyed that he'd left her alone to deal with this. "I think you might have overdone it, Squall," she informed him. He was forever going to regret the day he told her his real name, even if it had been an accident.

"That's Leon," the man replied with an air of long-suffering patience.

The boy finally noticed he wasn't holding his weapon. "The Keyblade…" He spotted it against the far wall, and looked at Yuffie questioningly.

"Yeah," she replied, "We had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that's how they were tracking you." She walked over to stand by Leon, fully ready to torment him at the first opportunity for leaving her alone with the kid. He seemed oblivious to her intention, and she grinned inwardly.

"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them," Leon said, ignoring her. "But it won't work for long." Just a few steps closer… "It's still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one." She had to abandon her endeavors as Leon picked up the Keyblade and swung it to the side. She forgot her intent completely when the thing dissolved in a flash of light, only to reappear in the boy's hand instead. Leon looked unhappy, but resigned.

"Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers." The guy really had a bad choice of words. She could tell the boy thought so, too; he was glaring at the man.

"Why don't you start making sense!" the boy demanded. "What's going on here?"

Yuffie resisted the urge to tell him they didn't know much more than he did, and listened as Leon began to explain as best he could the information they had been gathering. Yuffie zoned out, bored, and once again began to debate all the ways she could get back at Leon for…what was it again? Oh, well…

…

"Heartless?" the boy asked, and Leon sighed inwardly. That seemed to be becoming a habit for him. Still, the kid knew absolutely nothing about their situation, and, yet, he had been chosen to fix it.

"The ones who attacked you, you remember?" Yuffie replied absently from her seat on the bed beside the kid (_Sora_).

"Those without hearts," he clarified. As if you couldn't guess by the name, he added silently. And then mentally smacked himself for the comment.

Still, couldn't the Keyblade have chosen someone…wiser?

"The darkness in peoples hearts—that's what attracts them," Yuffie picked up. She still looked like she was plotting something, though, and Leon only hoped she would forget what it was before she decided to go through with it.

"And there is darkness within every heart," Leon continued. A memory of a blond warrior, a flash of silver and black…

"Hey," Yuffie exclaimed, drawing him out of his thoughts, "have you ever heard of someone named Ansem?" The boy shook his head.

"Well, he found out that the Keyblade will be the 'key' to defeating the Heartless," she said, looking pointedly at the boy's weapon.

"So…this is the 'key'?"

"Exactly!" Yuffie replied. She seemed to have forgotten all about her planning.

"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," Leon stated. "That's why they'll keep coming after you, no matter what." He wondered suddenly if he should be afraid for the kid. He knew what the Heartless could do.

"Well, I didn't ask for this," Sora mentioned. Leon shook is head. As if any of them had asked for this. If he could have, he would have taken the Keyblade from the kid, but…

"The Keyblade chooses its master," Yuffie confirmed. "And it chose you."

"So, tough luck," Leon said, and leaned up against the door to the other room.

"How did all of this happen?" the boy asked, and Leon resisted the urge to yell at him. He was only a kid, after all. "I remember being in my room…"

The boy gasped, making Leon jump, and stood up. "Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island? Riku! Kairi!" Leon felt his heart twinge a little. The kid was in the same boat they had been in.

And he couldn't bring himself to tell the boy that his home was gone. "You know what? I really don't know," he said instead.

The boy looked lost for a moment, but then ran up to him. Leon sighed. "Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you. You'd best prepare yourself."

"Prepare myself?" Sora asked.

"To fight for your life," Leon replied. Maybe he could get across just how much danger the kid was in. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready!" Sora told him. His blue eyes blazed with determination, and Leon felt a small bit of hope. Maybe that determination would be enough.

"Yuffie, let's go join Aerith. She should be there by now with the other visitors."

"Leon!" the ninja cried, making him jump again. She was pointing to a Heartless that had appeared in the room. And, of course, she was unarmed.

"Yuffie, go!" he told her, and drew his gunblade. Well, he might as well see what the kid could do. "Sora, let's go!"

The Heartless jumped out the window, and he leapt after it, Sora close behind. He landed in the alley and, with a quick strike, cut down the Heartless. Sora stood behind him, weapon raised.

Leon took a quick look around. Most of the Heartless seemed weak. "Don't bother with the small fry," he told the boy. "Find their leader."

"Let's go!" Sora cried.

Leon turned away to cut down a group of Heartless that had sprung up behind him.

When he turned back, Sora had gone.

He cursed his bad luck and began to run, searching for the boy. He knew there would be a concentration of Heartless around him, so he looked for strong ones and tried to follow them.

He noticed a giant armor-type thing in the Third District, and he ran toward it, praying he wouldn't find their hero squashed into the pavement.

He blinked at that. Yuffie was rubbing off on him.

As if thinking of the ninja conjured her up, she appeared at his side, running with him and yelling battlecries at the Heartless.

They arrived in the square just in time to see the huge armor disappear. Sora stood where it had been, Keyblade held loosely in his hand. He was talking to Donald and Goofy.

"So, you were looking for me?" he asked them. They nodded. Leon stepped forward.

"They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade."

"Hey, why don't you come with us?" Goofy said suddenly. "We can go to other worlds on our vessel!"

Sora bowed his head. "I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi…"

Leon sighed. If they had been on the boy's island when it fell…probably not. But then again, he had survived his world's fall.

"Sora, go with them," he said decisively. "Especially if you want to find your friends." After all, if the king's men could help Sora revive the worlds, his friends should come back.

He turned to Yuffie suddenly. "Where's Aerith?"

The ninja turned to him, thinking. "I think she ran off to make sure the First District stayed safe."

Leon nodded, distracted by the sudden laughter from the dog and the duck. He turned to see the kid making the most ridiculous face. Yuffie laughed.

"Hey, Leon, he smiles like you!"

He glared at the ninja, but he couldn't help the small smile that rose in answer.

…

Aerith found Leon and Yuffie with Sora, Donald, and Goofy in front of the Accessory Shop. Leon was, characteristically, showing his concern by lecturing the kid.

"Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you. We don't know how far the Heartless have spread."

Yuffie glared at him before grinning at Sora. "Check out the shops here. They've got some pretty neat stuff." Typical Yuffie.

Aerith smiled. "This is from all of us," she told the boy, and handed him their savings. It didn't amount to much, but it should get the boy somewhere. "Spend it as you see fit."

"Good luck!" Yuffie said, grinning.

"I hope you find your friends," Aerith told them.

"Look out for one another. Keep your spirits up." Aerith blinked. That was the most positive advice she'd ever heard the mercenary commander give anyone.

Sora nodded, and smiled at them. "Thanks for everything!"

Then he was off, Donald and Goofy rushing to catch up. They watched him go, trying not to hope that maybe he would be the one to save the worlds.

…

_Wow! That was a lot of dialogue…_

_I'm on a roll! Expect the next chapter soon…_

_Please review if you like this format, or tell me if I need to change it!_

_Sayonara!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Ok, this is the second chapter I've written in a day. Where did this come from?_

_I was a little mean to Cloud in this, but I needed to add something to the Coliseum storyline. Mostly Cloud's POV with a little Leon and Yuffie thrown in for variety._

_And I ended up giving Cloud his wing, though when watching the cutscenes, I couldn't actually see it. I thought it was supposed to be there…_

_Oh, well._

_Enjoy!_

…

The blue man stopped in front of him, slowly turning red. Cloud couldn't help the fear that welled up inside him, but he pushed it back, determined not to show weakness. The man slammed him up against the wall, and Cloud winced despite himself.

"Cloud, Cloud, how many times are you gonna fail me?" the man asked. Cloud's heart sank.

"He's a demigod. It's not exactly easy," he replied sharply.

Hades glared at him, more red than blue now. Yuffie would have got a kick out of his color-changes. But this wasn't the time to think about that.

"I didn't hire you to fail." Hades poked Cloud in the chest, right where his heart would be if it weren't in his boots at the moment. "I hired you to kill Hercules." A steady burn began to radiate out from Cloud's heart, growing in intensity. "And you won't fail again, will you?" Hades stepped back, glaring, but Cloud didn't pay any attention to him. A burn like fire was racing through his veins. His arms burned, and he could feel his legs give out; he slumped down against the wall. He was dimly aware of a flash of darkness as the other man departed, and then everything was flame, burning him up from the inside out.

He didn't know how long he sat there, but eventually the fire receded a little. He could hear his gasping breaths, his frantic heartbeat, and, dimly, someone yelling something. He focused, and the noises resolved themselves into his name. "Cloud!"

He blinked, and his vision cleared slightly. Yuffie was bending over him, looking concerned.

Vaguely, he wondered why Yuffie was there. It was his last thought before the darkness took him.

…

Leon and Yuffie had taken to visiting the Olympus Coliseum every now and then, participating in tournaments and greeting people from other worlds. It was a good way to get away from…well…everything, even if only for a day.

They were walking in the corridors that lined the back of the stadium when they had heard angry voices. They had arrived just in time to be blinded by a flash of fire and darkness, leaving a familiar figure slumped against the wall.

"Cloud?" Yuffie asked uncertainly, and shook his shoulder. He didn't respond, and Leon noted that his pupils were dilated, his eyes unfocused.

Cloud began breathing faster, and Yuffie started freaking out. Leon sighed. This really wasn't his ideal situation.

"Yuffie, calm down and let's…"

"Cloud? Cloud, can you hear me? Cloud!"

To Leon's surprise, it worked. Bright blue eyes blinked and focused briefly before closing again. Cloud relaxed, and Leon could tell he was merely unconscious.

"Yuffie, go get some water," he told the ninja, who was currently shaking her unconscious friend more than was probably advisable in his condition. She nodded and ran off.

Leon sighed again and leaned up against the wall to wait. If he was right, it wouldn't be long before…

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Cloud opened his eyes again. Leon was surprised to see fear in them before it was replaced with blank apathy.

"What happened?" he asked, not much one for formalities. Cloud looked up at him, surprised, but then looked away.

"…"

Leon blinked, but tried again. "What are you doing here?"

This time, Cloud responded, though he still refused to look at him. "I'm…searching for my light."

"So you made a deal with the death god?" Yuffie had come back, a little clay bowl of water in her hand. She handed it to Cloud, who stared at it, as if unsure of what to do with it.

Finally, he muttered, "Who better to help me find my darkness?"

Yuffie's brow furrowed in thought. "I thought you were searching for you light."

Cloud sighed. "Maybe if I defeat the darkness, the light will come back."

Yuffie blinked, trying to sort out this reasoning. Leon shook his head, but said nothing.

They both watched as Cloud stood up slowly, and Yuffie gasped.

"Uh, Cloud? You…have a wing."

Cloud blinked, and looked at the black, leathery appendage as if surprised it was there. Then, wordlessly, he turned and walked away.

"Hey, wait!" Yuffie made as if to go after him, but Leon grabbed her arm and shook his head. He turned and headed for the Coliseum gates. He needed to tell Aerith about this. She knew Cloud better than either of them did; maybe she could tell them more.

With a last backward glance, the ninja followed.

…

Cloud had come to the Olympus Coliseum hoping that, with the number of people from different worlds coming and going, someone might have heard something that would help him find Sephiroth.

Maybe, if he could defeat Sephiroth, he would be able to find his light. And maybe, if he was even luckier, he would be able to protect it.

This time.

This thought had driven him to accept Hades' deal. It had seemed so simple. He killed a demigod, the death lord gave him information.

Killing a demigod was harder than it sounded.

He sighed, and flexed the wing that seemed to serve as a constant reminder of his descent into darkness. Ironic, really, that he would turn to darkness in order to try to eradicate it.

He rubbed absently at the place where the thing met his shoulder. A wing could come in handy sometimes, but, more often, it just hurt, a persistent, dull ache that spread through his shoulder. As if he needed any more reminders that what he was doing probably wasn't a good idea.

Not that he cared. It didn't matter, as long as he could protect his friends.

He hardly remembered their faces anymore. His recent memory was filled with darkness, and fighting, and pain. The darkness wiped out his other thoughts, left him living in the moment, his only remaining thoughts focused on silver hair and a black wing and sharp steel.

He sighed, and walked slowly out of the cool darkness of the Underworld and into the light of the Coliseum. The wind felt good, ruffling his hair. The air was so still in the Underworld.

His eyes, too used to the darkness of the realm of the dead, painfully protested the bright sunlight.

As he walked through the lobby and into the stadium, he noted all the familiar faces, back for another tournament. He would be competing today, though he knew his target wouldn't. Sometimes, though, it was better not to question Hades.

He noticed a new face standing at the lobby entrance. A kid with blue eyes and brown, spiky hair, holding a large key. Large key…that stirred something in the back of his mind, but he couldn't remember what was so important about a key…

The boy and his two companions had been talking to Phil, the goat who ran the place, but they stopped as Cloud walked by, staring at him. He stared back, mildly curious, but then ignored them. What was one more opponent to beat?

Hades was waiting for him in a little room under the bleachers. He was watching the kid celebrate a victory.

"That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now, don't blow it. Just take him out."

Cloud blinked, wondering how to respond to that. Finally, he just said, "The great god of the Underworld, is afraid of a kid?" He felt like he should protest this new task, but he couldn't think of a reason why. "Sorry, but my contract says—"

"I know!" Hades yelled. Cloud cringed inwardly. "You think I don't know? I wrote the contract! I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you've got to fight that kid to get to him. Come on." Luckily, Hades was staying blue. Maybe he wouldn't injure his mercenary before he sent him out to kill someone.

Yeah, right.

"Hey, it's like that old goat says. Rule 11: it's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?"

Cloud sighed and pushed off the wall. He didn't want to listen to this any more, and besides, it was his turn in the ring.

It didn't take long to move up through the ranks. The Heartless were relatively easy, and none of them offered much challenge. By the time he was finished, the only injury he had to show for it was a burn on his back where one had gotten in a lucky shot.

Then he was facing the kid from earlier across the ring. The boy stared back, blue eyes determined. Cloud sighed, but raised his own blade in answer. He felt like he should be against killing the kid. So why wasn't he?

Cloud reached for the darkness and, harnessing it, streaked around the battlefield, his blade a blur. He leapt, single wing catching the air just enough to keep him airborne for a few seconds, and then slammed down right where the kid had been a moment before. A dark aura encircled his blade, and the boy yelled in pain.

Cloud made the mistake of looking directly at him, and was almost blinded by the kid's light.

Light…key…

He gasped as the same key hit him in the side; the sheer _light_ of the thing stung him, to say nothing of the bruise it caused.

But the kid was nothing compared to an ex-SOLDIER, and before long, he was on his knees at Cloud's feet. Cloud raised his blade, ready to deal the final blow.

But something in the kid's face stopped him. His blue eyes were fearful, but still blazed with determination. He was so innocent…

Cloud stepped back, surprised, and lowered his blade. He couldn't do it.

He didn't get time to regret his decision; the boy's look of shock, a sudden long shadow, and an imposing presence at his back were the only warnings he had. Then a large black paw slammed him to the ground. His sword fell from his hand, just beyond his reach. The thing slowly pressed down, more and more, and he could feel the breath driven from his lungs. He couldn't breathe.

He felt his ribs snap under the pressure, and would have cried out if he'd had the breath to do so. His vision dimmed, and his last thought before the darkness took him was, _How did something so big manage to sneak up on me?_

He almost came to a few moments later. He couldn't see or hear anything very well, and the only thing he could feel was the pain in his side. His head cleared a little more, and he could tell he was slung over someone's shoulder. That someone was fighting.

He could hear growling, a loud thump; the person carrying him fell back, and the resulting impact hurt enough to through Cloud back into the dark.

He woke up again in the Coliseum lobby. Actually woke up this time; he blinked and forced his eyes into focus. He could hear growls, feel the ground shaking a little. Phil stood at the doorway between the lobby and the stadium.

Hercules was bending over him, looking worried.

How ironic that he would be saved by the very person he was supposed to kill.

Not like he wanted to kill him.

But still.

He sighed, and immediately regretted it; he hurt all over. Being stepped on by a several ton black mongrel really wasn't the best thing that had ever happened to him.

He had a feeling the deal with Hades was off.

Phil called Hercules over, and both of them watched something through the doorway. From what he could hear, he guessed that the kid he had been trying to kill was kicking Cerberus' collective butt. There was a final growl and a large thud. Seemed like the kid had done it, too.

He pushed himself to his feet, as slowly as he could, and staggered out of the Coliseum to sit on the steps by the huge World Gate. He didn't want to be around all the people he had been conspiring against. He didn't need their pity, anyway.

He was somewhat surprised when the boy walked up to him, a little bruised but with a triumphant look on his face. He looked down, not really wanting to talk to him.

Of course, when was the last time he'd gotten what he wanted?

"Hey, are you all right?"

He looked up. There was no blame in those blue eyes. He blinked. "Yeah." Maybe that was the end of it.

Or not. "So why did you go along with him, anyway?" the kid asked.

Cloud sighed and rested his head on his hands. He didn't want to explain himself to this kid. "I'm looking for someone," he finally replied. "Hades promised to help."

He stood, wincing a little. "I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired." He looked up, realizing that the sunlight really wasn't that painful anymore. He wondered briefly why he was opening up to the boy this way, but found he couldn't stop himself. "I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light."

"You'll find it." The confidence in the boy's tone surprised him. He looked at him. The boy's gaze was distant. "I'm searching, too."

Cloud watched him for a minute. "For your light?" he prompted. The boy nodded.

Cloud walked up to him and handed him a trinket he'd found, something that had taught him a useful attack. Maybe the kid could put it to better use than he had. "Don't lose sight of it," he commanded. Then he went to walk away, trying not to limp.

"How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved." Cloud turned. The kid was waving at him, smiling. He shook his head, a little confused by the turn of events.

"I think I'll pass," he replied. He allowed himself a small…it wasn't a smile, but it wasn't a glare, either. Then he walked off, leaving the trio behind him, watching him go.

…

_Not 100% sure what comes next in the story…_

_Wow, second double update in two days. How often does this happen?_

_And now I've exhausted my creativity bug again. Most of what these characters do in the rest of KH1 is fix gummi ships and fight in the Coliseum, which isn't much to write about, so I can't really do much until I hit the KH2 storyline._

_Which means I need to come up with filler stuff. Ugh._

_Reviews are welcomed!_

_Sayonara!_


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